UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA:A failure by the head men's basketball coach (Jim Calhoun) to promote an atmosphere of compliance in the men's basketball program and a failure to adequately monitor the program to ensure compliance with the NCAA legislation regarding telephone calls, text messages and benefits provided by a representative of the institution's athletic interests. Calhoun reacts to receiving a technical foul during college basketball game against West Virginia in Hartford, Conn., on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Photo: Fred Beckham, AP

UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA:A failure by...

UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA: A failure by the head men's basketball coach (Jim Calhoun) to promote an atmosphere of compliance in the men's basketball program and a failure to adequately monitor the program to ensure compliance with the NCAA legislation regarding telephone calls, text messages and benefits provided by a representative of the institution's athletic interests. Calhoun at the game against Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Photo: Chris Trotman, ST

UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA: A failure by...

UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA:A failure by the head men's basketball coach (Jim Calhoun) to promote an atmosphere of compliance in the men's basketball program and a failure to adequately monitor the program to ensure compliance with the NCAA legislation regarding telephone calls, text messages and benefits provided by a representative of the institution's athletic interests. Calhoun reacts to receiving a technical foul during college basketball game against West Virginia in Hartford, Conn., on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Photo: Jessica Hill, ST

UConn has been accused of the following by the NCAA:A failure by...

This September 2007 photo released by the University of Connecticut Athletics shows Beau Archibald, director of men's basketball operations, who resigned Thursday, May 27, 2010. The University of Connecticut says the NCAA has found eight violations in the school's men's basketball program. The alleged violations include improper phone calls and text messages to recruits, and giving recruits improper benefits. (AP Photo/University of Connecticut Athletic Department) **NO SALES**
Photo: AP

This September 2007 photo released by the University of Connecticut...

This September 2007 photo released by the University of Connecticut Athletics shows assistant men's basketball coach Patrick Sellers, who resigned Thursday, May 27, 2010. The University of Connecticut says the NCAA has found eight violations in the school's men's basketball program. The alleged violations include improper phone calls and text messages to recruits, and giving recruits improper benefits. (AP Photo/University of Connecticut Athletic Department) **NO SALES**
Photo: AP

This September 2007 photo released by the University of Connecticut...

STORRS -- The NCAA has accused the University of Connecticut of committing eight major rules violations in its men's basketball program, most related to the recruitment of Nate Miles. The allegations are the most serious lodged against the program in head coach Jim Calhoun's tenure, now entering its 25th year.

The school received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on Monday and released the document Friday in conjunction with a news conference at Gampel Pavilion.

Both Calhoun and Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway read prepared statements during the news conference, but neither would comment specifically on the case. "Let me be clear, the University of Connecticut is fully committed to NCAA rules compliance and takes this matter very seriously," Hathaway said.

The NCAA's investigation began after a Yahoo Sports story detailed extensive, perhaps impermissible, phone contact between the UConn coaches and recruit Miles. The stories also detailed contact between the coaches and former UConn manager Josh Nochimson. Nochimson, a one-time agent, provided Miles with extra benefits, according to Yahoo Sports.

Miles enrolled at UConn in the summer of 2008 but never appeared in a game for the Huskies. He was expelled in the fall of that same year following allegations he assaulted a female classmate.

During a 15-month review that was conducted by the NCAA and UConn, the NCAA discovered that UConn coaches made at least 160 impermissible telephone calls and 191 impermissible text messages to recruits from June 2005 to February 2009.

The notice of allegations not only accuses Nochimson, as a "representative of the institution's athletic interests," of providing Miles with extra benefits but also accuses UConn, in one instance, of providing an extra benefit to Miles.

Assistant coach Pat Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald already have resigned from the program, and it appears the rest of the staff will remain. On May 7, Calhoun signed a $13 million contract that runs through 2014.

Sellers and Archibald are accused of "providing false and misleading information to NCAA investigators, while Archibald is also accused by the NCAA of providing Miles with an unnamed extra benefit. Sellers resigned Sunday and Archibald a week ago Thursday, Hathaway said.

UConn has 90 days under NCAA guidelines to respond to the notice, meaning it would have to prepare its rebuttal report by Aug. 20. At that point the school, assuming it agrees that violations have occurred, is likely to recommend and implement sanctions on itself.

"The institution's obligation is to evaluate whether or not violations have occurred, and then figure out what appropriate and meaningful penalties are," said Rick Evrard, a Kansas City-based lawyer who represents UConn in NCAA matters.

What those penalties could be is slightly unclear, though a postseason ban seems unlikely and a forfeiture of games is nearly impossible.

"I think you look generally at the case," Evrard said. "If it's a recruiting case, you look for recruiting sanctions. ... The way that the NCAA's (Infractions) committee looks at violations that are not either recruiting or competitive advantage, they look to take scholarships away."

After UConn's response is received, school officials are then scheduled to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions Oct. 15-16 in Indianapolis.

At some point following that meeting, the NCAA will release its final report on the matter and perhaps impose sanctions in addition to what UConn had already proposed.

In perhaps the most serious allegations, both Hathaway and Calhoun are accused of failing to monitor their employees' actions and that the program lacked a "atmosphere of compliance."

"Failure to monitor is kind of a lesser degree of failure to control the institution -- lack of institutional control is the commonly used term," Evrard said. "If an institution is systemically problematic with regard to evaluating its own systems and its own coaches, then you're going to get a lack of institutional control charge."

Although the Huskies ended up with the "lesser" charge, it is by no means a secondary violation.

Calhoun acknowledged Friday, as he did in March 2009 when the initial Yahoo Sports story was posted, that it's possible "mistakes" were made in the recruiting process.

A two-time national champion and Hall of Fame coach, the 68-year-old Calhoun is not entering his 25th season at UConn on the highest of notes.

"It's not exactly anywhere near the high point of my career. As a matter of fact it's certainly one of the lowest points any time you're accused of doing something," Calhoun said Friday. "It's a very serious matter. Conversely, I'm not defeated. I don't get defeated by things. As a matter of fact I'm going to be educated if in fact we did make mistakes."

The last time the UConn men's basketball program was accused of significant violations was following the 1995-96 season, when it was discovered that Kirk King and Ricky Moore accepted extra benefits from an agent in the form of airline tickets. The Huskies were forced to vacate their games in the 1996 NCAA Tournament and both players were suspended.

The recent accusations appear more serious.

"I think this is the first time the institution has received a notice of allegations," Evrard said.